


They Can’t Stop the Both Of Us

by chattering_tchotchke



Series: The Steps Closer to Home—TerrAqua Week 2019 [4]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Terraqua Week (Kingdom Hearts), Tragedy, even if there’s no happy ending, sorry about that, this is the area 51 raid au you all needed and deserved
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2019-09-22
Packaged: 2020-10-25 21:04:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20730734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chattering_tchotchke/pseuds/chattering_tchotchke
Summary: Day 6 Prompt: Stormy WeatherDay 7 Prompt: Free/Quote (quote used: they can’t stop all of us)It’s a weekend. What else do you do with your boyfriend but spring your new alien friend from “UFO jail?”





	They Can’t Stop the Both Of Us

**Author's Note:**

  * For [mimiplaysgames](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mimiplaysgames/gifts).

> This is two days and a night of me typing whenever I could. I swear it was supposed to be shorter than this.  
“Huise” is pronounced as “wise,” but with a breathy w, if that makes sense.

_“You really think he’s going to like chocolate? I think he’d like coffee better.”_

_“You’re just saying that because the only ice cream you like is coffee. You’re going to turn him to your tasteless ways, and I won’t stand for that.”_

_They rounded the corner to the park, where Ven was waiting for them._

_“Come on, I have and use my taste—”_

_But he wasn’t on the bench, he was walking toward them as a dark truck pulled beside him, and a group of people in suits stepped out of the side._

_Aqua could only watch in horror as they surrounded Ven. One of them said something unintelligible, and the kid shook his head. Then another plucked off his sunglasses and started snickering. She couldn’t hear it all the way, but she knew that they knew who Ven was. They’d been all over the news with that blurry photo of him; his blue, almost white and pupil-less eyes were unmistakeable. Of course it had to be his face that was the only mostly clear part._

_A wet smack sounded on the sidewalk as Terra dropped the ice cream. His face narrowed in fury—and that could mean anything, from him running to Ven—they were so far away, why’d they have to be that far away, why’d they leave him, dammit!—to him still being rational. But they couldn’t risk anything, not now after they’d screwed everything up by getting him caught._

_“_No!_” She dragged him back around the corner. “We can’t get caught. It’s no—”_

_“No use to Ven if we get caught. I _know_ that,” he fumed. __“But they can’t just _do_ that.” He violently gestured at the group, nigh-on dragging him into the back of the truck. He was limp now, she could see that much from where she was._

_“Well, they are. This was a stupid idea,” she hissed, tears threatening to bubble out of her eyes. The weight of a morning’s worth of bad decisions crashed down with the snap of a string._

_“They’re going to— we don’t even know what’s gonna happen to him!”_

_“We’ll find him. We have to.”_

_It was such a quick decision, but it was an obvious one. They weren’t going to leave Ven in the middle of a world he didn’t know, with people he didn’t know._

_She couldn’t feel anything as the logo on the truck’s side rolled past._

_HUISE INSTITUTIONS_

_Her workplace._

* * *

“Everything’s ready, right?”

“Yep.” Terra made another final check over her Big Bag of Legal Heist Materials, as Sora had entitled it.

“You’ll do alright. I know you will.”

“Yeah. I’m just— worried about Ven.”

“Me too.”

Aqua leaned back against him, rubbing her hand along his. A week of planning had all come to this—it would work, it had to work.

“When’s everyone coming, again?”

The front door burst open. A dripping wet bundle of people pushed through, scuffing their feet on the rug.

“Alright!” Sora cheered. “Who’s ready to emancipate an alien!” Immediately he was met with a chorus of groans.

“Not so loud!”

“Wow, great job letting literally everyone know our plan.”

“No one’s going to hear us through the storm,” he pointed out. A crash of thunder met his words. “See?”

Aqua laughed, despite herself. “We can always count on you to lighten the mood, can’t we.”

“Yeah, you’re stuck with my relentless positivity and goodwill until I get thrown in UFO jail.” He paused, considering that possibility for a moment. “But I can always engineer a breakout from there.”

“Eh, you’d only get thrown into real jail for a night or two. You guys remember your part, right?”

“Yes,” Kairi snickered. “Run up to the front gate with Riku trying to hold us back, demand to “see the alien” and all that, stay for as long as possible.”

“Okay, okay, but we _are_ going to make this snappy,” Lea said. “I had to leave the kiddos and I _really_ don’t want them eating all the sriracha and sour cream in the fridge.”

“You three,” Terra pointed at Sora, Kairi, and Riku, “_have_ to stay on heckling duty. Keep it legal. Don’t push it if they’re making you leave, because then they’d get suspicious. Just be—oh, I don’t know—”

“—some stupid kids and the voice of reason,” Riku deadpanned.

“Bring a couple umbrellas,” Lea suggested. “Then you’ll actually want to stay like you’re supposed to.”

“I cut the power at 8:25, and after that you have about ten minutes to sneak in and get him before the backup generators start up,” he continued. “It’s all planned out, so as long as everyone does what they’re supposed to, we’re good.”

“You all know your parts,” Aqua said. “We don’t have to go over anything?”

Then her phone started ringing. It was—her boss? “Hang on, I have to take this for a second.”

“Hey, Aqua.” The voice cracked and popped over the phone; the storm slamming down hard neigh to give a poor connection on both ends.

“Uh— hello.”

“Listen, I know this is on super short notice, but we’ve noticed an anomaly in one of the night tests and need you to come in for a few hours. Zack can’t get here because a bridge is washed out, so we’re short a pair of hands.”

“Oh.” That wasn’t something any of them had planned for, her possibly going in to work that night. The night team in her department had completely different experiments and subjects.

“If you’ve made plans, then—”

“—no, actually.” It’d be easier to get in now—plausible reasons to be there and all that. “I can come in at about 7:45.

“Great, we really appreciate it. I’m sending you some files to get you caught up on the experiment. Bye.”

“B—” click, “—ye?”

“Okay, so about that.” Everyone in the room turned to her. “I found a new plan.”

* * *

The floodlights over the parking lot barely lit anything through the pouring rain. Terra pulled into an empty spot fairly near the door and parked. The warm air was on, but Aqua suddenly felt cold. 7:38. 7:39. The minutes kept ticking, ticking away. 7:43.

“Don’t forget those papers.”

“Don’t forget to forget the papers.”

They’d said it at the same time. They looked at each other and started to laugh, all the week’s nervousness catching up to them.

“Okay, okay,” Terra snickered. “You have to go in now. You’re gonna do great.”

“You too.”  
“Wait, wait,” he said, his face switching between a grin and a terrible poker face.

She loosened her grip on the door handle. “What is it?”

“Good luck kiss?” He blushed furiously as he said it, as if it was a ridiculous idea.

Aqua leaned back in for a short, sweet peck. “Remind me to return that when we finish,” she said after their lips broke apart.

“Of course.”

Opening the car door a crack and pushing her umbrella through, she let it fly open. She ran out and through the parking lot, the umbrella barely holding up against the downpour.

After keying her way inside, she smiled and held out her ID for the security guard—Braig, if she remembered correctly, but she had only worked during the day for a couple weeks, and he was mostly on the night shift.

“Didn’t expect you’d be here tonight,” he drawled, taking the card and scanning it.

“Neither did I,” she said. “Something weird started up on one of the tests and they need a couple more hands.”

“That’s nice of ya. ‘specially on a weekend, I mean, you’ve probably got a bunch of things planned, but here you are, helpin’ out.” He handed the card back, and she took it.

“Thanks.” She started down the hall, tucking her ID in the pocket of her scrubs.

“Wait a minute.”

A _clench_ settled in her chest as she turned around. He sounded a little too suspicious. _Please let him in._ “What is it?”

“There’s some kid knockin’ at the door. He with you?”

Just walk to the monitor. Just act surprised and curious.

Terra stood there, waving an arm and mouthing words at the camera. Then he held up a small pile of papers for them to see. Those are her papers she’d left in the car; be _surprised_—

“Oh— he’s my boyfriend and— shoot, those are some papers I need. You can buzz him in, he’s good.”

“Sure thing,” he said. “Pretty nice that he saw those.” With a press of a button, Terra came bursting through the doors.

“Aqua,” he panted, “you left these on the dash.”

“I think she’s noticed that,” Braig said, but Aqua ignored him for a second to hug Terra.

She wrinkled her nose after pulling away, seeing the spots of water on her scrubs. “You’re soaking, and— oh, right, I took the umbrella. How long were you out there?”

“Just a few seconds.”

She turned to Braig. “Can he just stick around for a bit? I don’t want either of us to get sick, or anything, since there’s only one umbrella and we’d be going out at separate times.”

“_Pretty_ sure that’s a made-up thing, but— eh, no one else’s coming in tonight.” He shrugged. “I suppose I can keep an eye on him for a minute or two.”

That wasn’t the plan, Aeleus would’ve let them both come and go freely—but they can’t afford to make anyone suspicious. The only thing they could do was agree. Braig draped an hand on Terra’s—who shot her a half-pleading look of _help me_—shoulder, and started off on a tangent about pneumonia.

“Have fun, you two,” she called after them, walking down the hall to her unit.

“Oh, we will,” Braig said. “Anyway, where was I? Right, the fungi bit. Going off of there, a lot of the bacteria that cause it are already on your body. And don’t even get me started on how viruses look, because that’s ridiculous.” He was leading Terra down the hall, if the way his voice faded out was any indicator of that.

“They’re not even alive, and they _still_ radiate malice.”

* * *

“Resident Lane!” It was a man from the night shift who she didn’t recognize, running up to her as she walked through the door.

“What’s the problem?”

“It’s hard to explain exactly, but the J-cells are adversely affecting the mice’s emotional state. They’ve become erratic, and, well—” He gestured to the middle cage. “—see for yourself.”

The solitary mouse inside was practically foaming at the mouth. Its paws were now more like nubs, seemingly chewed off, if the bloody spots around its gray muzzle were anything to go by.

“It was very aggressive when we called you in, but it’s gotten worse. There weren’t any outside events; nothing could’ve set this off.”

“S1, what happened to you,” she muttered. It had been the most promising out of all the subjects, and now it was anything but. Then she turned to the man. “Where’s its control partner?”

“It started to attack it, so we had to separate them. CS1 isn’t in bad shape at all. We haven’t been able to tell if it has any bites from S1, but we’re keeping an eye on it, just in case.”

“Do the same for all the others,” she ordered. “S1 is usually the first one affected, so any number of them might turn out the same way.”

The next few minutes could’ve been a disaster, if not for that. Some in tandem, some eerily one after the other, the S mice started to shift in an invisible way, from snapping at an instrument near their cages to flat-out attacking it. It was morbidly captivating.

“The A mice are all fine, aren’t they?” She finally found her voice after a moment.

“Yeah, they’re good. It could be the dosage; these guys were getting only half as much as S group. But they were better off than S in any case We’ve seen consistently similar results during tests and all that.”

And the long night started. Until midnight they were running tests and controls, searching for some way to stabilize S group or reduce any adverse effects of the J-cells.

It was only once she gained the desire to throw her computer out the window that they found anything promising.

“We’ve got this from here. Thanks for the help.”

“No problem,” she waved away. Now, to find the storage room—well, closet—she’d told Terra about. It was an easy walk, only a few minutes to get there comfortably to wait for Terra. He wasn’t around, but that could mean anything, good or bad. She hoped that he was only lost.

Voices traveled up the hallway and she ducked inside the closet.

“—consider the ethical ramifications of your proposal? Dr. Huise has made it quite clear what your role here is; he would and _will not_ stand for your actions. This alien is a complete anomaly, the first of its kind on Earth! Even if you were to disregard all scientific standards, which you seem _eager to do_, no control group exists, no standard for interaction—”

“—he has been about the city already, Even; I am sure he interacted with people in some capacity,” another voice rasped. Like it’d been smoking a block of cement, though there were several NO SMOKING signs plastered throughout the building. “But since you are so concerned, I have only talked to him as of late.”

_“As of late?! Xeha—”_

A door opened and slammed, cutting off Even before he could finish.

“Of all the nerve of that man, simply because he is consulted for his expertise gives him no right to...” Even stalked down the hallway, his mutterings growing fainter as he walked away. “...hadn’t confiscated that folder...”

Aqua breathed a sigh of relief, and the closet door opened to reveal Terra. A fraction of a scream escaped her lips before she slapped her hands over her mouth. His eyes widened at seeing her, but he wedged himself into the little space left and closed the door.

“Sorry it took so long,” he whispered. “Had to get away from the guy. He kept talking about diseases. I fell asleep then gave him some excuse that I wanted to see what your work was like and went. He might’ve gone after me, though.”

Indeed, the sound of boots slamming down the hall has started, and she could spot Braig passing by through the crack between the door and the frame.

Their eyes, the most visible thing in the thin light of the closet, met again in a silent exchange. Don’t open the door. He might just be around the corner, waiting for them to make a sound. He could pass this way again.

Pulling her phone out of her pocket, she shot Lea a quick text:

**<<Sorry I couldn’t make it to your house tonight. Some stuff popped up at work.**

Finally, after agonizing seconds of waiting, the power blinked out. It was time for the second part—locating Ven.

They had fifteen minutes.

* * *

“Hey, kiddo. Wakey, wakey, eggs and bakey.” The lanky figure shone their flashlight over a person sleeping on a bed. “Have you guys eaten that stuff at all? What do they even feed you here, or don’t they?”

The other wobbled their way into an upright position, squinting at the beam of light in their eyes. “Who—”

“Ah, ah, ah, don’t go screamin’ on me now. I had to do a lot of work to get people off my tail, and I don’t want that to change, _capiche?”_

“What are you doing here?” Their voice was thin, but clear and strong. There’d been too many people with too many questions over the past few days, and if they had to answer anything else they didn’t remember, they were going to scream—that was a promise.

“Should be obvious. ‘m gettin’ you out. Here, put this on and no one’ll ask any questions.”

“But this is—”

“Yeah, and if anyone asks you’re an unpaid intern.”

They looked up at the dim figure holding the flashlight. Maybe their face was grinning, or maybe not; it was too hard to tell. “Who are you?”

Blank gold eyes seemed to glitter behind the thin glow of the flashlight.

“Call me a friend.”

* * *

“I found it!”

Aqua paused her shuffling through of files to look at the one Terra was holding up, labeled **Subject X-V**, with a picture of Ven on the side.

“See if they’ve got his room number on there. I need to check something else.”

They were in Even’s office, not that they needed to worry about him coming in. He preferred to spend his time in the laboratory, only coming up every so often to file papers. That was one dependable thing about this ordeal, along with the other one; that he tended to throw files on his desk when he couldn’t find a place for them immediately. If she was lucky—and she was.

Her flashlight caught out a file marked in thick, deep pen—all deliberate and slow-written, not Even’s scrawl. It, too, read **Subject X-V**, and was disproportionately thick for Ven having only been there a week. It had been written by a Dr. Xehanort, most certainly the one Even had been ranting at in the hall earlier. Definitely what she was looking for. As she flipped through the documents within, fragments of sentences leaped out at her.

_—intriguing resemblance to J-cells— extremely unstable when separated— volatile recombination—_

Just an overview of his genetic makeup, at the beginning. But it only got worse when the experiments came into the mix.

_—strong resistance to the sedatives that do not destroy cells— certainty of damage if continued—_

Tests, all of them, of Ven’s physical and mental strength, trying to push him to his limits.

Then, in huge lettering:

**Proposal X-B2 denied. All further physical research halted.**

Looking at the proposal synopsis made her want to be sick. It had only been a week—

“Aqua! He’s in B85.”

Seven minutes left, and alarms started blaring.

**This is an emergency evacuation for all employees. This is not a drill. Repeat, this is not a drill.**

There was barely a problem finding Room B85. The problem was that a certain someone stood in front of the door—the second-to-last someone that Aqua wanted to see. Dr. Xehanort was the first.

“Dr. Huise,” she said, looking for any excuse. “I was just seeing if there was anyone—”

“—spare me the theatricality. I can see quite clearly what you are up to.” He paused to give her a look she couldn’t quite interpret.

“Then you know why we’re here,” Terra said.

“And you know what Dr. Xehanort wants to do to him,” she blurted out. “I know you don’t want that to happen. But we won’t let that happen.”

“How, pray tell, do you plan to do that?” His eyes burned into her, and she swore that she could see a flicker of gold in them.

“He has a ship. We’re bringing him to it.”

“Where is this ship?”  
“I’m not telling you that.”

**Attention, all employees. There is a Biohazard Level 3 contamination alert.**

The announcement kept going. They stared at each other a moment more. She could sense Terra behind her as he tightened his grip on her shoulder, prepared to run if it all went sour.

**Please make your way to the nearest emergency exit. Please make your way to the nearest emergency exit.**

_“My residency applications came back.”_

_“Ah, that’s nice. Any that you’re thinking of in particular?”_

_“Yeah. It was an easy choice actually—the Huise Institute.”_

_“That place what does research into disorders causing emotional deregulation?”_

_“You’ve heard of it.”_

_“Well, I sort of know the guys there. Who are all weird, by the way,” Lea said casually. “Isa and I went in for an internship a year ago, and after about a week they fired me and kept him on. He still came over and stuff, but he got stranger the longer he worked there.”_

_She was curious. “Stranger in what way?”_

_“Eyes turned gold, said it was a side effect of this one experiment. Turned into a jackass and said it was the long nights. Then he stopped coming over. Won’t even answer my calls, so I don’t know what’s happening anymore.” He looked at her with conclusion in his eyes. “I’ve thought about going over to his place, but who knows.”_

_“It was the work, and not just him?” Immediately, Aqua knew it was the wrong thing to say, but Lea didn’t say a thing._

_“Dunno, _maybe_ it was him.” His tone said that the “maybe” meant the exact opposite._

_“So you don’t think it’d be a good idea to take the job,” she deduced._

_“What I’m saying is, be careful.” Lea sighed. “Either I misinterpreted everything I saw for all of a week, or there’s some serious fuckery going on behind the scenes. And I don’t want to lose a friend to the second one.”_

_Perhaps the “again” didn’t need to be voiced._

He hadn’t wanted to talk about it anymore after that. But she’d taken the job, because it was a nationally accredited research facility, and one bad partner and weird coworkers didn’t necessarily stain a whole place. It might’ve been stupid in hindsight, though that didn’t matter now. She was caught up in it. They all were.

Then Dr. Huise stepped aside.

“Go,” he said, and Aqua almost couldn’t believe it. “But I will not help you further, should you be caught.”

“Wasn’t expecting that much anyway,” Terra muttered, loud enough for him to hear.

“The utility staircase and elevator at the end of the hallway should not be in use when the lights come back on,” he said, ignoring the snarked truth. “Security is concentrated on the main gate. I suppose you are to blame for that as well.”

“Thank you,” Aqua said, before he could change his mind. “We’ll be going now.”

“And you’ll come back for your usual shift tomorrow.”

**If you are caretaker for one or more patients, ensure that they are evacuated.**

If she quit, they’d know that she’d helped get Ven out. It was only the rational thing to do.

“Of course.”

3 minutes left.

* * *

By some miracle alignment of luck and speed, they managed to get Ven out and into the car just before the lights came back on. The drive out wasn’t a problem, not even with all the traffic of everyone leaving at once. No guard stopped to check in their backseat, or stop them like with some others, and Aqua suspected Dr. Huise had something to do with that.

Ven finally started stirring as they reached the highway. He screamed for only a second, but it was enough to slam Terra’s foot on the brakes.

“Ven! It’s us, look!”

Their eyes met as he sat up, and she leaned back, and Terra gave a quick look behind.

“It really is you guys,” he laughed, relieved. “I can’t believe it.”

But the reunion would have to be saved for later. Two bright beams appeared behind them, closing in on them on the mostly empty highway.

“Ven,” Terra breathed. “You remember where your ship is, right?”

* * *

They raced through the woods, heedless of the branches that caught and scratched at their hair and clothes. Ven seemed to simply phase through them, his steps light and sure in the dark.

The rain gave them a cover, but not for long. A gunshot rang out and Terra collapsed.  
“Shit,” he gasped, clutching at his leg.

Aqua flicked on the flashlight to see blood oozing from between his fingers, mixing with the rain and spreading even further. “Can— you walk,” she muttered numbly. “I don’t think that I can—”

He swallowed thickly, probably the scream that had to be building up in his chest. “Ye—eah, don’t know for how much longer. We gotta—” another swallow, “—keep going.”

Ven came rushing back. “We’re almost there,” he said, rushing his words together. “It’s just ahead.” Then he ran in front of them, again.

They rounded a corner into a clearing just in time to see him plunging his hands into a plasma-like square on the outside, the hatch opening,

“Guys, come on,” he howled, clambering into what looked like the pilot’s seat. “It’s fine, my ship can hold you!”

They didn’t have a choice. They were surrounded.

Aqua and Terra ran forward onto the gangway. Not even three steps up, a soft _thwip_ whistled into her ear, and she only had time to look own at a feather sprouting from her upper arm before her vision blurred and her legs turned into noodles.

“Aqua! Ven, just _go!”_

Another _thwip_, and Terra was beside her, tumbling heels over back to the ground.

The gray sky lifted up above her, disappearing into black. The last thing she saw was the hateful gold eyes of Dr. Xehanort.

“You two have certainly given me a great deal of trouble.”

And then it all went black.


End file.
